Chlamydia Research Laboratory at CHORI

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular parasite and a scourge of humankind. It has been known for decades as the etiological factor in the blinding eye disease, trachoma, and is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world today. In fact, over 600 million people, or one tenth of the world’s population, are ocularly infected with chlamydiae. In the 1980’s, it was discovered to be the most common cause of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in the industrial world as well. A related species, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, is a major respiratory pathogen among all age groups and, in recent years, has been associated with atherosclerosis, heart disease and cancer.

Dr. Deborah Dean conducts research on many aspects of chlamydial infections. She pioneered the current typing of C. trachomatis that is based on gene sequences of the major outer membrane protein of the organism and has recently developed a multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) scheme that significantly enhances strain identification. She conducts research on the molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of chlamydial STDs around the world, including the association of persistent organisms with disease pathology, mechanisms the organisms uses to prevent programmed cell death in infected cells, local host immune responses to active and persistent infections, and susceptibility to chlamydial infection and inflammation in Ecuadorian, Nepali and Vietnamese populations. Her research of chlamydial STDs among adolescents of color will help to design appropriate interventions in this population.

Dr. Dean also studies the role of the host/pathogen interactions in the pathogenesis of blinding trachoma, and serves as the research coordinator for the World Health Organization and International Trachoma Initiative for prevention of blinding trachoma in Vietnam. Dr. Dean is currently developing the Chlamydia Sequence Database, an interactive, user-friendly, relational database for chlamydial genes of functional interest that will advance science in the field of Chlamydia and will serve as a model for other databases. This Database will be online by the Summer of 2007. Along these lines, she is the PI of a large NIH grant on the comparative genomics of C. trachomatis reference strain serotypes and recent clinical isolates that will provide informative data on the evolution and disease correlates of strains among different populations.  She conducts bioinformatics research to make sense of the plethora of gene and genome sequences being generated for Chlamydia spp. as well as microarray data.  In the latter instance, she is using these data to better understand the role of C. pneumoniae in vascular disease pathogenesis. This research also includes an examination of the host genetic susceptibility to inflammation among patients with and without carotid atheromas.

Finally, Dr. Dean has set up a collaboration with Trinity Biosystems, Inc., to develop a vaccine to prevent and ameliorate chlamydial related STDs among all age groups. She also has a collaboration with Oxonica Inc. to apply leading edge nanotechnology to the study of chlamydial disease pathogenesis.